Massaging the Calf Muscle For Achilles Tendon Physical Therapy

Series Summary

The Achilles tendon is the extension of the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles in the lower-leg muscle group. It attaches these muscles to the heel bone and make movement of the ankle and lower leg possible. The thickest and strongest tendon in the human body, the Achilles tendon got its name from Greek mythology. The goddess Thetis, heard a prophecy about the death of her son. To prevent this from happening, she grabbed him by his heel and dipped him into the River Styx which protected his body from immanent harm. However, the unprotected heel was pierced with a poisonous arrow during the Trojan War, and Achilles was rendered lifeless.

The Achilles tendon is subject to inflammation, tendonitis, tendinosis, tendon rupture and tendinopathy. Learn about the anatomy of the ankle and the Achilles tendon in these expert videos. You will get tips from our physical therapy expert for non-surgical treatment of the lower leg. Learning the appropriate exercises for the Achilles tendon can aid in flexibility and repair of the tendon. See how to perform important stretches to enhance the range of motion in your ankle and lower leg. Watch as our expert demonstrates different techniques for massaging the calf muscle and the muscle “belly” of the Achilles tendon. These expert video clips will aid in the recovery of your Achilles tendon and get you back on your feet quicker.

Video Transcript

"My name is Monica and I am going to be showing you some simple massage techniques that you can do when you are having Achilles tendon problems. First what we are going to do is just, you want to start these very gently and make sure that you kind of warm-up the tissues first. So the first thing we can do here, you can see right here, you can do some strokes and glides up like this and I am just taking my fingers, putting them right next to each other and just kind of coming up like this, so this is just a couple of simple exercise you can do for your Achilles tendon. So all this right here just tendon. Usually with Achilles tendon problems people might have muscle tightness, weakness, soreness, up here in their muscle belly as well as in their Achilles tendon. So I will show you today how to do not only Achilles tendon stuff right down here but also some other muscle things, muscle strengthening exercises that is going to help this whole basically muscle tendon unit that we have. "